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Carlsbad police officer escorts woman from City Council meeting over condemnation hearing

By Natalie Grossngross@currentargus.com

Posted:
01/23/2013 08:41:55 AM MST

One woman's attempts to salvage a dilapidated house on her dead mother's property ended badly when she was asked to leave the council chambers at Tuesday's city council meeting.

After Eileen Riordan gave a presentation to the council in favor of the removal of a house at 1209 N. Eighth Street, Christine DeVargas, daughter of the deceased owner Elvira DeVargas, addressed the council. She requested that her niece and nephew in Oklahoma who inherited the estate be given notice before the council reached a decision.

As Christine DeVargas spoke, her sister Helen moved to sit on the front row. She grew increasingly nervous as Christine spoke, and she began to interrupt her sister, telling the council that certain details of Riordan's report had been exaggerated.

It wasn't long before council members and others attending the meeting grew visibly irritated that both women were speaking at once, and Carlsbad Police Officer Charlie Garcia approached Helen DeVargas.

"I had to remind her of the procedures for addressing the council," Garcia said after the council meeting.

But Helen DeVargas remained firm on her position that the family be given more time to fix the house if desired, and her forceful approach caused Mayor Pro Tem Dick Doss to raise his voice in order to be heard above her.

"You should've known that if we were ticked off about the other properties, we'd be coming after this one," said Doss referring to three other properties on Eighth Street belonging to the DeVargas family that the city council had condemned in 2012.

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Even after the vote was cast-6 to 2 in favor of demolition-and City Administrator Jon Tully moved on to the next agenda item, Helen DeVargas did not stop her protests. Garcia eventually asked her to leave, and as he escorted her out of the room, she muttered under her breath, "No, they (the council) can't do that."